I desire that the following article will help you to better understand this topic.
I am sure that there are many people who will say that they know everything there is to know about wines. Unfortunately unless you are a vino aficionado, a wine-colored grower or an proficient in wine taste you will have a very special idea of the many differences that are present in wines. This is rather OK as many of us just drink the various wines that we have without thought any further. To help us learn more about wines we can take a small tour known as wine 101.
This tour will just touch on a few ideas in wines. To get more selective information you can chitchat wineries and ask questions from their tour guides, look for the entropy that you require on the internet, read some books on wine-colored taste perception and other subjects. These are just introductions into the many differences that you will find as you sample dissimilar wines.
In wine 101 the first thing that you will have to realize is that red wines have a unlike sense of taste from white wines and you will need to preference these to learn the assorted differences. Once you have accepted this fact you will need to look for a few white wines and red wines in which to conduct your wine 101 class.
The next step in the taste of the wine 101 is to Pour some vino into a glass. Swirl the vino in the glass so that the wine and all of the substances in the wine have a chance to meld. You will need to hold the wine up to the light and see how long it takes for the leg of the vino to Pour back into the bottom of the glass. The legs of the wine will tell you about the quality of the wine.
The next phase in wine 101 is to smell the wine. Here you will need to first take a quick sniff. From this sniffle you should try and key the various flavors that may be present in the wine. Once you have distinct what these flavors might be, you should swirl the vino once more so that everything is once again good mixed together.
You must be inclined to step into the next part of wine 101. This is where you will take a small sip of the wine, hold it for a few minutes and bask all of the flavors. When these flavors are leg in your mouth the wine should be allowed to slide into your waiting throat. Now enjoy the full mouthful of your glass of wine.
Thank you for Taking you time to read through this information if you’re interested in gathering more knowledge please continue to search this site.
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About The Author: Michael Malega presents several Wine 101 articles for your information. You can visit Michael's network place here Wine 101
Senin, 31 Januari 2011
Salmon - An Affordable Luxury
Salmon is one of the most versatile fish we can buy, and despite its longstanding reputation as a luxury fish, is nowadays surprisingly affordable.
Salmon are available in both farmed and wild varieties, and while the wild salmon has the edge in terms of both flavour and texture, the quality of the farmed fish has improved greatly over the years and is now a fish that makes thoroughly respectable eating. The comparative rarity of wild salmon, which is only available for half the year between February and August, is at least as responsible as quality for the higher prices it commands compared to its farmed cousins.
Most of the wild salmon you can buy will be from the Atlantic Ocean, both off the shores of North America and Northern Europe, with Scotland being an especially famed source of the fish. Salmon can also be found in the Pacific, although these fish tend to find their way into cans rather than the wet fish counter of your local fishmonger.
An enduring image of wild salmon is of a sleek silver arch of fish leaping up weirs and waterfalls, and this arises because they are are born in freshwater, but spend most of their lives in the sea after migrating while young. They will stay in the sea for between one and four years, before returning to the very same river they were born in to spawn, which is usually their last act before expiring from the exhaustion of the journey upstream.
Farmed salmon, in contrast, spend their entire lives in lochs or river estuaries, swimming in net cages, sometimes at densities higher than is healthy for the fish. Fish farming has gathered something of a bad reputation over the years, and it's true that salmon farms once showed a similar disregard for animal welfare that you'd find in most industrialized farming operations. In recent years, though, public opinion has forced a rethink, and standards have widely improved - you can even find organic farmed fish these days.
When you come to buy salmon, the usual rules for buying fish apply. Make sure you can see a whole fish so that you can get an idea of how fresh it is - the pre-wrapped anonymous fillets packaged in a 'protective atmosphere' you find in many supermarkets is a gamble at best. A fresh fish will have bulging eyes rather than sunken ones, will feel firm to the touch, and should not smell 'fishy' as this indicates that it is past its best.
Depending on how many you are feeding, you can buy a steak which is cut from the shoulder of the fish, a fillet from nearer the tail end, or even a whole fish. Tail end fillets possibly offer the best eating, as they are more or less free of bones apart from the pin bones which can easily be removed during preparation. Steaks, however, are a more meaty cut and are perhaps more suited to cooking methods such as a barbecue or grill.
Whichever cut you buy, you can be assured that your health will benefit - as an oily fish, salmon is high in Omega 3, which has been shown to be of use in preventing heart problems, and is widely believed to be helpful for brain and nervous system development and operation.
Enjoy your salmon!
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Andrea writes on food, wine, and gardening issues, and cooks salmon at least once a week.
Salmon are available in both farmed and wild varieties, and while the wild salmon has the edge in terms of both flavour and texture, the quality of the farmed fish has improved greatly over the years and is now a fish that makes thoroughly respectable eating. The comparative rarity of wild salmon, which is only available for half the year between February and August, is at least as responsible as quality for the higher prices it commands compared to its farmed cousins.
Most of the wild salmon you can buy will be from the Atlantic Ocean, both off the shores of North America and Northern Europe, with Scotland being an especially famed source of the fish. Salmon can also be found in the Pacific, although these fish tend to find their way into cans rather than the wet fish counter of your local fishmonger.
An enduring image of wild salmon is of a sleek silver arch of fish leaping up weirs and waterfalls, and this arises because they are are born in freshwater, but spend most of their lives in the sea after migrating while young. They will stay in the sea for between one and four years, before returning to the very same river they were born in to spawn, which is usually their last act before expiring from the exhaustion of the journey upstream.
Farmed salmon, in contrast, spend their entire lives in lochs or river estuaries, swimming in net cages, sometimes at densities higher than is healthy for the fish. Fish farming has gathered something of a bad reputation over the years, and it's true that salmon farms once showed a similar disregard for animal welfare that you'd find in most industrialized farming operations. In recent years, though, public opinion has forced a rethink, and standards have widely improved - you can even find organic farmed fish these days.
When you come to buy salmon, the usual rules for buying fish apply. Make sure you can see a whole fish so that you can get an idea of how fresh it is - the pre-wrapped anonymous fillets packaged in a 'protective atmosphere' you find in many supermarkets is a gamble at best. A fresh fish will have bulging eyes rather than sunken ones, will feel firm to the touch, and should not smell 'fishy' as this indicates that it is past its best.
Depending on how many you are feeding, you can buy a steak which is cut from the shoulder of the fish, a fillet from nearer the tail end, or even a whole fish. Tail end fillets possibly offer the best eating, as they are more or less free of bones apart from the pin bones which can easily be removed during preparation. Steaks, however, are a more meaty cut and are perhaps more suited to cooking methods such as a barbecue or grill.
Whichever cut you buy, you can be assured that your health will benefit - as an oily fish, salmon is high in Omega 3, which has been shown to be of use in preventing heart problems, and is widely believed to be helpful for brain and nervous system development and operation.
Enjoy your salmon!
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Andrea writes on food, wine, and gardening issues, and cooks salmon at least once a week.
Green Tea Weight Loss: Not Just Another Fad
There are too many diets out there that come and go. And there's a reason: They don't last because they don't really work. But amidst all the hype, once in a while you come across something that really does work.
Green tea, one of the most common of all household herbs, can also be a valuable asset in the quest to lose weight. Green tea is set apart from all the other "fad" diets in two ways - its benefits are backed up by verified science, and it can be a genuinely useful supplement to any diet, anywhere. So instead of referencing obscure studies and leaving out vital nutrients in favor of one catch-all solution, green tea really can be a healthy choice for anyone trying to lose weight.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, green tea acts as a metabolic stimulant. Our metabolism determines how quickly we burn calories, and when it is sped up, the rate at which calories are burned also speeds up. And with green tea, this speed doesn't come from caffeine. Instead it comes from a unique concentration of the naturally-occuring chemical catechin.
Catechin acts directly on the metabolism by increasing the body's rate of thermogenesis - the process by which the body produces heat to use energy (or in other words, the metabolism). The Linus Paul Institute confirms this, after conducting a study in which it was revealed that consuming green tea extract on a consistent basis could increase the body's rate of burning calories by 3-4%. Extract, or concentrated green tea, doesn't even have to make it into our daily diets - just drinking a cup or two of unconcentrated tea a day will yield similar effects.
However, in addition to stimulating the metabolism, green tea can play a further key role in dieting. At the University of Chicago, studies have revealed that green tea can assist in the reduction of appetite. Most likely this is due to the regulatory effects the herb has on our blood sugar. This can be pivotal for an individual who has issues with eating too much.
Put another way, drinking green tea can keep the dinner plate lighter.
When we eat most carbohydrates, we ingest a considerable amount of glucose. Carbohydrates can be both our best and worst friends, giving us a large quantity of energy if used immediately, or being stored as fat if left untouched. If we can't manage to go work off the carbs immediately, glucose gets absorbed into fat cells - putting on more fat. But green tea apparently inhibits this process, by slowing the increase in blood sugar after eating, which in turn prevents the insulin jumps that lead to fat storage. So by drinking tea, we're afforded some more time to work off the carbs.
Lastly, many of us just plain like our caffeine. While there's nothing implicitly wrong with this, many of today's caffeinated drinks are over-saturated with unnecessary calories - often numbering well into the hundreds. But green tea has caffeine too, and doesn't come with high quantities of sugar and cream. Switching from sugary or creamy caffeine drinks to green tea can not only provide all the previously discussed benefits, but cut a substantial portion of the day's calories out of our diet.
Green tea has been around for thousands of years, and it looks likely to be around for thousands more to come. That's not just because it tastes so great, or has so many vital nutrients. It's because green tea can help reduce weight as well. And that's a cup we just can't pass up.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: ::All-Natural Weight Loss Supplements:: Article by Scott T Smith. Are YOU sick and tired of being overweight? Ready for all-natural weight loss solutions that really work? Visit Slimstuff on the Web at http://www.slimstuff.com/ ::All-Natural Weight Loss Supplements::
Green tea, one of the most common of all household herbs, can also be a valuable asset in the quest to lose weight. Green tea is set apart from all the other "fad" diets in two ways - its benefits are backed up by verified science, and it can be a genuinely useful supplement to any diet, anywhere. So instead of referencing obscure studies and leaving out vital nutrients in favor of one catch-all solution, green tea really can be a healthy choice for anyone trying to lose weight.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, green tea acts as a metabolic stimulant. Our metabolism determines how quickly we burn calories, and when it is sped up, the rate at which calories are burned also speeds up. And with green tea, this speed doesn't come from caffeine. Instead it comes from a unique concentration of the naturally-occuring chemical catechin.
Catechin acts directly on the metabolism by increasing the body's rate of thermogenesis - the process by which the body produces heat to use energy (or in other words, the metabolism). The Linus Paul Institute confirms this, after conducting a study in which it was revealed that consuming green tea extract on a consistent basis could increase the body's rate of burning calories by 3-4%. Extract, or concentrated green tea, doesn't even have to make it into our daily diets - just drinking a cup or two of unconcentrated tea a day will yield similar effects.
However, in addition to stimulating the metabolism, green tea can play a further key role in dieting. At the University of Chicago, studies have revealed that green tea can assist in the reduction of appetite. Most likely this is due to the regulatory effects the herb has on our blood sugar. This can be pivotal for an individual who has issues with eating too much.
Put another way, drinking green tea can keep the dinner plate lighter.
When we eat most carbohydrates, we ingest a considerable amount of glucose. Carbohydrates can be both our best and worst friends, giving us a large quantity of energy if used immediately, or being stored as fat if left untouched. If we can't manage to go work off the carbs immediately, glucose gets absorbed into fat cells - putting on more fat. But green tea apparently inhibits this process, by slowing the increase in blood sugar after eating, which in turn prevents the insulin jumps that lead to fat storage. So by drinking tea, we're afforded some more time to work off the carbs.
Lastly, many of us just plain like our caffeine. While there's nothing implicitly wrong with this, many of today's caffeinated drinks are over-saturated with unnecessary calories - often numbering well into the hundreds. But green tea has caffeine too, and doesn't come with high quantities of sugar and cream. Switching from sugary or creamy caffeine drinks to green tea can not only provide all the previously discussed benefits, but cut a substantial portion of the day's calories out of our diet.
Green tea has been around for thousands of years, and it looks likely to be around for thousands more to come. That's not just because it tastes so great, or has so many vital nutrients. It's because green tea can help reduce weight as well. And that's a cup we just can't pass up.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: ::All-Natural Weight Loss Supplements:: Article by Scott T Smith. Are YOU sick and tired of being overweight? Ready for all-natural weight loss solutions that really work? Visit Slimstuff on the Web at http://www.slimstuff.com/ ::All-Natural Weight Loss Supplements::
Working with Eggs
Bad eggs are rare but they do occur. Crack eggs into a separate bowl before mixing with other ingredients. If the egg shell from shattering when you crack the egg.
First, find a flat surface and not on the floor, pour salt on the floor, heavily. Wipe it up fifteen minutes later. Salt will set up the upper part of your palm, between your thumb and middle finger. The egg will gently fall into the bowl as the shell spreads apart.
If you drop an egg on a flat surface.
Once the egg on the floor, pour salt on the floor, heavily. Wipe it up fifteen minutes later. Salt will set up the egg's protein and make it harder to wipe off the bowl.
Bad eggs are rare but they do occur. Crack eggs into a separate bowl before mixing with other ingredients. If the egg shell from shattering when you crack the egg in the carton.
Many techniques are used for cracking open an egg. Their is an easy method you can use if you want t
o keep the egg is bad it will have an unmistakeable odor.
If you find an egg on a flat surface, you want to keep the egg in the carton.
Many techniques are used for cracking open an egg. Their is an easy method you can use if you want to keep the egg is bad it will have an unmistakeable odor.
If you find an egg stuck to the carton, fill the indentation with cool water and let sit for five minutes. The water will soften the dried egg white that is holding the egg is bad it will have an unmistakeable odor.
If you find an egg on a flat surface.
Once the egg in the upper half with your thumb and first three fingers.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: http://www.cookingmade.net
First, find a flat surface and not on the floor, pour salt on the floor, heavily. Wipe it up fifteen minutes later. Salt will set up the upper part of your palm, between your thumb and middle finger. The egg will gently fall into the bowl as the shell spreads apart.
If you drop an egg on a flat surface.
Once the egg on the floor, pour salt on the floor, heavily. Wipe it up fifteen minutes later. Salt will set up the egg's protein and make it harder to wipe off the bowl.
Bad eggs are rare but they do occur. Crack eggs into a separate bowl before mixing with other ingredients. If the egg shell from shattering when you crack the egg in the carton.
Many techniques are used for cracking open an egg. Their is an easy method you can use if you want t
o keep the egg is bad it will have an unmistakeable odor.
If you find an egg on a flat surface, you want to keep the egg in the carton.
Many techniques are used for cracking open an egg. Their is an easy method you can use if you want to keep the egg is bad it will have an unmistakeable odor.
If you find an egg stuck to the carton, fill the indentation with cool water and let sit for five minutes. The water will soften the dried egg white that is holding the egg is bad it will have an unmistakeable odor.
If you find an egg on a flat surface.
Once the egg in the upper half with your thumb and first three fingers.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: http://www.cookingmade.net
Barbecue, an American Tradition
Barbecue is as American as apple pie. It's aroma evokes memories of baseball games, swimming and family vacations. Mouths water when the grill is fired up. Preparing meat for the barbecue is just as important as the cooking itself. Marinating infuses flavor into the meat, ensuring a delicious family meal that will not be easily forgotten.
Marinating is the process of steeping meat in a mixture of an acid (i.e. vinegar, lemon juice, or wine) and spices (i.e. salt, pepper, and herbs.) The acid tenderizes the meat causing it to hold more liquid, making it juicier and more flavorful. Care must be taken when making the marinade, as too much acid will toughen the meat. When marinating poultry, poke holes in the meat with a fork, or use a needle injector. Removing the skin allows the marinade to fully penetrate the meat. (Leaving the skin on compromises the flavor.) Poultry can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 2 days in a marinade. (Meat should always be covered in the refrigerator.) The time for marinating depends on the size of the pieces as well as the kind of meat. Chicken breast takes longer than steak because it is firmer. To reduce the amount of time needed for marinating cut the meat into smaller pieces. You can also pound chicken flat to cut time.
There are a variety of containers appropriate for marinating. Metal, plastic, and glass bowls all work. My favorite containers, however, are plastic bags. When a bag is used a smaller amount of marinade is needed because the air can be squeezed out. The meat is covered completely which allows for the flavors to be infused more quickly and evenly. Plus, the bag can be tossed when the job is done, making clean-up fast and easy.
There are a few safety tips to remember when marinating poultry, meat and seafood. Raw meat and fish contain juices which may harbor harmful bacteria. To avoid contamination never reuse a marinade. Do not reuse containers without carefully washing them with dish soap. Don't marinate meat past the grocer's "use-by" date. And finally, always marinate in the refrigerator--never at room temperature.
Italian Chicken Marinade - Place 2 lbs. sliced chicken in a plastic bag. Add 8 oz. Italian dressing, the juice of 1 fresh lemon, a few turns of fresh pepper, and a little salt. Marinate a few hours in the refrigerator. Remove from the bag and place on a heated grill. During the last few minutes of grill time, lay thin slices of lemon over the chicken. Serve the grilled chicken with a small amount of the unused Italian dressing.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Emma Snow is contributing author and publisher to http://www.bbq-shop.net an online resource that provides you with information, articles of interest related to barbecues and Gourmet Living http://www.gourmet-living.com
Marinating is the process of steeping meat in a mixture of an acid (i.e. vinegar, lemon juice, or wine) and spices (i.e. salt, pepper, and herbs.) The acid tenderizes the meat causing it to hold more liquid, making it juicier and more flavorful. Care must be taken when making the marinade, as too much acid will toughen the meat. When marinating poultry, poke holes in the meat with a fork, or use a needle injector. Removing the skin allows the marinade to fully penetrate the meat. (Leaving the skin on compromises the flavor.) Poultry can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 2 days in a marinade. (Meat should always be covered in the refrigerator.) The time for marinating depends on the size of the pieces as well as the kind of meat. Chicken breast takes longer than steak because it is firmer. To reduce the amount of time needed for marinating cut the meat into smaller pieces. You can also pound chicken flat to cut time.
There are a variety of containers appropriate for marinating. Metal, plastic, and glass bowls all work. My favorite containers, however, are plastic bags. When a bag is used a smaller amount of marinade is needed because the air can be squeezed out. The meat is covered completely which allows for the flavors to be infused more quickly and evenly. Plus, the bag can be tossed when the job is done, making clean-up fast and easy.
There are a few safety tips to remember when marinating poultry, meat and seafood. Raw meat and fish contain juices which may harbor harmful bacteria. To avoid contamination never reuse a marinade. Do not reuse containers without carefully washing them with dish soap. Don't marinate meat past the grocer's "use-by" date. And finally, always marinate in the refrigerator--never at room temperature.
Italian Chicken Marinade - Place 2 lbs. sliced chicken in a plastic bag. Add 8 oz. Italian dressing, the juice of 1 fresh lemon, a few turns of fresh pepper, and a little salt. Marinate a few hours in the refrigerator. Remove from the bag and place on a heated grill. During the last few minutes of grill time, lay thin slices of lemon over the chicken. Serve the grilled chicken with a small amount of the unused Italian dressing.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Emma Snow is contributing author and publisher to http://www.bbq-shop.net an online resource that provides you with information, articles of interest related to barbecues and Gourmet Living http://www.gourmet-living.com
The History of Soy
The soybean has a long history and a very long journey through out the world. This journey, lasting almost 27 centuries, changed the world that we know today. Soy products feed a large part of nearly every country's inhabitants, as well as various non-edible uses. The soybean was first cultivated by the Chinese. It then spread further throughout China and to other countries around it. Some time after the domestication of the soy plant, Europeans too learned about the uses of the soybean and they started to grow it. Much later, with a hand from Benjamin Franklin, the soybean made it's journey to America. The soybean has had a lengthy journey, and one that has effected the whole world.
Soybeans were first used as early as the 11th century BC by the Chinese. Soybeans were honored by the ancient Chinese and the emperor Sheng-Nung named it as one of the five sacred plants. Included with soybeans rice, wheat, barley, and millet. Soybeans were used in this early civilization both as food and also as a medicine. Perhaps the soybean actually helped cure sicknesses because of the vitamins that it contains. Centuries after the soybeans were being used by the Chinese, they were domesticated and it is now said that they could be one of the first crops ever to be grown by humans. It wasn't long after this when the rest of the world learned about the benefits of the soybean.
Hundreds of years after the Chinese first discovered the uses of the soy bean and the domestication of the soy plant, other parts of the world started using the soy bean too. By the first century countries such as Korea started using the soybean. Soybeans also became more widely used throughout china and had spread to Central and southern china. It want until the 7th century when many other countries started using the soy bean such as Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal and northern India. Soy was commonly used as an ingredient in the early ages of it's history and was used to make tofu, miso, and tempeh. Meanwhile the other European countries still were still not using the unfamiliar bean.
Long after Asia had started using the soybean, in the 17th century, Europeans started using the bean that they had seen in travels to Asia. Yet, even then all they did was import soy sauce from China. Finally by the 18th century soybeans were being grown in European countries. Much later, the first soy plant touched American territory. In 1770 Benjamin Franklin sent his friend, a botanist, seeds of a soybean. Unfortunately Franklin's attempt was unsuccessful to spark the interest of America. The true time when soybeans were finally introduced into America was when a ship full of soy plants used as ballast landed at a dock. A few farmers interested in the plant decided to try and grow them, at last the soybean was being grown in America. Since 1929 the soybean crop has increased form 9 million bushels to over 2.8 billion bushels.
In America soybeans began to flourish flourish, on the farms and on the markets. In 1904 George Washington Carver a famous chemist discovered that soybeans contain large amounts of protein and oil. Later on in 1919 William Morse helped found the American Soybean Association. Henry Ford known for making automobiles made a car with all of the plastic made from soybeans! However it wasn't truly until the 1940's when Soybean farming rocketed.
Soy has a long history and despite it's long journey,it still can not rest, for even today, people are still finding new uses for soybeans.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Francesca Black works in marketing at Organic Items http://www.organic-items.com and Pilates Shop http://www.pilates-shop.net leading portals for organic products and natural excercise.
Soybeans were first used as early as the 11th century BC by the Chinese. Soybeans were honored by the ancient Chinese and the emperor Sheng-Nung named it as one of the five sacred plants. Included with soybeans rice, wheat, barley, and millet. Soybeans were used in this early civilization both as food and also as a medicine. Perhaps the soybean actually helped cure sicknesses because of the vitamins that it contains. Centuries after the soybeans were being used by the Chinese, they were domesticated and it is now said that they could be one of the first crops ever to be grown by humans. It wasn't long after this when the rest of the world learned about the benefits of the soybean.
Hundreds of years after the Chinese first discovered the uses of the soy bean and the domestication of the soy plant, other parts of the world started using the soy bean too. By the first century countries such as Korea started using the soybean. Soybeans also became more widely used throughout china and had spread to Central and southern china. It want until the 7th century when many other countries started using the soy bean such as Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal and northern India. Soy was commonly used as an ingredient in the early ages of it's history and was used to make tofu, miso, and tempeh. Meanwhile the other European countries still were still not using the unfamiliar bean.
Long after Asia had started using the soybean, in the 17th century, Europeans started using the bean that they had seen in travels to Asia. Yet, even then all they did was import soy sauce from China. Finally by the 18th century soybeans were being grown in European countries. Much later, the first soy plant touched American territory. In 1770 Benjamin Franklin sent his friend, a botanist, seeds of a soybean. Unfortunately Franklin's attempt was unsuccessful to spark the interest of America. The true time when soybeans were finally introduced into America was when a ship full of soy plants used as ballast landed at a dock. A few farmers interested in the plant decided to try and grow them, at last the soybean was being grown in America. Since 1929 the soybean crop has increased form 9 million bushels to over 2.8 billion bushels.
In America soybeans began to flourish flourish, on the farms and on the markets. In 1904 George Washington Carver a famous chemist discovered that soybeans contain large amounts of protein and oil. Later on in 1919 William Morse helped found the American Soybean Association. Henry Ford known for making automobiles made a car with all of the plastic made from soybeans! However it wasn't truly until the 1940's when Soybean farming rocketed.
Soy has a long history and despite it's long journey,it still can not rest, for even today, people are still finding new uses for soybeans.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Francesca Black works in marketing at Organic Items http://www.organic-items.com and Pilates Shop http://www.pilates-shop.net leading portals for organic products and natural excercise.
All About Basil
Basil is one of the most popular herbs used in cooking today. It is a very versatile herb, and is used in Italian, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines amongst many others.
It has a warm, aromatic but gentle flavor, with a hint of spicey aniseed. It's well known that it goes extremely well with tomatoes, where it can be served raw in salads such as the classic Italian Caprese, or cooked into a rich tomato sauce for pasta or other hot dishes.
Basil is also popular as the prime ingredient of pesto sauce (known as pistou in France), which is made by pounding fresh basil leaves with pine kernals, olive oil, parmesan cheese and garlic to produce the distinctive thick green sauce so often used with spaghetti or as a dipping condiment.
Like most herbs, basil is widely available in both fresh and dried forms. Again like most herbs, the fresh version is generally considered to be superior. If you come across a cheap and bountiful supply of the fresh herb, you can dry it slowly in a very low oven before crumbling it and storing in airtight jars. This method of preserving it costs much in terms of flavour though, and a better option is to puree the leaves and freeze into ice cubes, which can then be dropped from frozen straight into the recipe you're cooking.
Basil can be quite expensive to buy in the fresh form, so if you become a fan of the herb you might like to try growing it yourself - it's much cheaper that way, and you can also ensure that the leaves you're using will be as fresh as can be! It's also one of the easier herbs to grow and so is ideal for beginners.
Basil is a native of warm climates, and so needs to be planted in a sunny and sheltered spot if it is to flourish. If you have a patio or terrace with a south facing wall, then sowing it in a pot there is ideal. It's all the better too if you can grow it close to your kitchen for easy picking whenever you need it!
Left to itself, basil will tend to grow into a tall, thin, ungenerous-looking plant with little in the way of edible leaves. You can encourage a more rewardingly bushy growth by 'pinching out' the plant as it grows, removing the top young leaves to encourage more sideways growth. Harvesting the herb regularly will also encourage more vigorous growth.
Basil is a tender annual, and will die off quickly in cold weather. You may be able to prolong its life by bringing it indoors at the first sign of a cold snap, or you could sow a succession of new plants indoors for a year-round supply.
Although it is mainly a culinary herb, basil does have some minor antiseptic properties, but is not widely used medicinally by herbalists. It is however a member of the wider mint herb family, and in common with its relatives it's said to be a good digestive aid.
There are many varieties of basil available, but the most popular are the Genovese type which gives the typical authentic italian flavour and aroma, and the purple-leaved 'holy' basil which is used more often in Asian cooking.
Whichever variety you choose, and whether you decide to buy it or grow it, basil is a treat for your senses and a great addition to your culinary toolbox.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Andrea is a keen cook and food writer, and runs a kitchen accessories site, which features a wide range of cooking products from chopping boards to coffee machines.
It has a warm, aromatic but gentle flavor, with a hint of spicey aniseed. It's well known that it goes extremely well with tomatoes, where it can be served raw in salads such as the classic Italian Caprese, or cooked into a rich tomato sauce for pasta or other hot dishes.
Basil is also popular as the prime ingredient of pesto sauce (known as pistou in France), which is made by pounding fresh basil leaves with pine kernals, olive oil, parmesan cheese and garlic to produce the distinctive thick green sauce so often used with spaghetti or as a dipping condiment.
Like most herbs, basil is widely available in both fresh and dried forms. Again like most herbs, the fresh version is generally considered to be superior. If you come across a cheap and bountiful supply of the fresh herb, you can dry it slowly in a very low oven before crumbling it and storing in airtight jars. This method of preserving it costs much in terms of flavour though, and a better option is to puree the leaves and freeze into ice cubes, which can then be dropped from frozen straight into the recipe you're cooking.
Basil can be quite expensive to buy in the fresh form, so if you become a fan of the herb you might like to try growing it yourself - it's much cheaper that way, and you can also ensure that the leaves you're using will be as fresh as can be! It's also one of the easier herbs to grow and so is ideal for beginners.
Basil is a native of warm climates, and so needs to be planted in a sunny and sheltered spot if it is to flourish. If you have a patio or terrace with a south facing wall, then sowing it in a pot there is ideal. It's all the better too if you can grow it close to your kitchen for easy picking whenever you need it!
Left to itself, basil will tend to grow into a tall, thin, ungenerous-looking plant with little in the way of edible leaves. You can encourage a more rewardingly bushy growth by 'pinching out' the plant as it grows, removing the top young leaves to encourage more sideways growth. Harvesting the herb regularly will also encourage more vigorous growth.
Basil is a tender annual, and will die off quickly in cold weather. You may be able to prolong its life by bringing it indoors at the first sign of a cold snap, or you could sow a succession of new plants indoors for a year-round supply.
Although it is mainly a culinary herb, basil does have some minor antiseptic properties, but is not widely used medicinally by herbalists. It is however a member of the wider mint herb family, and in common with its relatives it's said to be a good digestive aid.
There are many varieties of basil available, but the most popular are the Genovese type which gives the typical authentic italian flavour and aroma, and the purple-leaved 'holy' basil which is used more often in Asian cooking.
Whichever variety you choose, and whether you decide to buy it or grow it, basil is a treat for your senses and a great addition to your culinary toolbox.
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: Andrea is a keen cook and food writer, and runs a kitchen accessories site, which features a wide range of cooking products from chopping boards to coffee machines.
Black Forest Cake Recipe
Black Forest Cake, is a chocolate cake with a strong cherry element to it which is popular throughout North America.
Called Schwarzwälderkirschtorte in German, which means Black Forest Cherry Torte (torte is the German word for cake).
The origin of this cake in unknown, but it is believed to have originated in the late 16th century in the Black Forest Region (Der Schwarzwald in German) located in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The area is known for its sour cherries and Kirsch or Kirschwasser (a double distilled, clear cherry brandy made from the sour Morello cherry).
It is a chocolate layer cake with Kirsch, whipped cream, sour cherries and chocolate curls.
Ingredients:
Cake
4oz Irish butter
8oz brown sugar
4oz plain chocolate
7oz self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pint sour cream
3 tablespoons strong cold black coffee
2 eggs
pinch of salt
Pastry Base
4oz cream flour
pinch of salt
2oz icing sugar
2oz/ Irish butter
1 egg yolk
a few drops of vanilla essence
Other:
1 pint cream
1lb tin black cherries
4 table spoons black cherry jam
brandy or cherry juice
4oz grated chocolate
Directions:
Cake:
Cream butter and sugar together well.
Melt the chocolate and beat into the creamed mixture, then mix in the eggs.
Sift flour, salt and cinnamon together.
Fold the dry mix lightly into the liquids, then fold in the sour cream and cold coffee.
Into a lined and greased 9-inch round, deep tin pour the cake mixture and bake for 1 hour, 25 minutes.
Set to cool on a wire rack.
Pastry Base:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and bind until the mixture stiffens.
Roll the pastry onto a floured board worktable until pastry is about the same size as the base of the tin.
Lay out on baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Assembly:
Whip cream until it holds its shape.
Put some cream into pastry piping bag with a star pipe attached, and reserve this for the decoration.
Slice the cake into 3 equal-sized layers.
Drain the cherries, reserve 8 for decoration and remove the stones from the remainder.
Put pastry on serving plate and spread the pastry with black cherry jam.
Soak the cakes with sprit used.
Put one layer of cake on top of coated pastry.
Spread a layer of cream with half the stoned cherries.
Put the second layer of cake and add another layer of cream and cherries.
Add the final layer of the cake.
mask the entire cake with the remaining cream and press on the grated chocolate. Decorate the top with piped rosettes of cream and the reserved whole black cherries.
Tips:
Using 3 identical cake pans instead of 1 large is OK.
Margarine, vegetable oil or regular butter will substitute for Irish butter.
In some countries the brandy is often replaced by rum, in Germany itself it is almost always replaced by Kirschwasser.
This recipe did not come with a temperature to bake at for either the pastry or cake. Cakes usually work at between
325°F and 400°F (160°C and 205°C). Pastries usually work at between 350°F and 425°F (175°C and 220°C).
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: For more recipes you can use at home or publish on your own website, ezine, newsletter or blog visit Good Cook dessert recipes. Food and drink are two of the great pleasures in life. eat and drink @ mwnch provides recipes and discussion to help you to get the greatest pleasure from them. To us that means sourcing the finest seasonal, local and where appropriate organic produce and ingredients.
Called Schwarzwälderkirschtorte in German, which means Black Forest Cherry Torte (torte is the German word for cake).
The origin of this cake in unknown, but it is believed to have originated in the late 16th century in the Black Forest Region (Der Schwarzwald in German) located in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The area is known for its sour cherries and Kirsch or Kirschwasser (a double distilled, clear cherry brandy made from the sour Morello cherry).
It is a chocolate layer cake with Kirsch, whipped cream, sour cherries and chocolate curls.
Ingredients:
Cake
4oz Irish butter
8oz brown sugar
4oz plain chocolate
7oz self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pint sour cream
3 tablespoons strong cold black coffee
2 eggs
pinch of salt
Pastry Base
4oz cream flour
pinch of salt
2oz icing sugar
2oz/ Irish butter
1 egg yolk
a few drops of vanilla essence
Other:
1 pint cream
1lb tin black cherries
4 table spoons black cherry jam
brandy or cherry juice
4oz grated chocolate
Directions:
Cake:
Cream butter and sugar together well.
Melt the chocolate and beat into the creamed mixture, then mix in the eggs.
Sift flour, salt and cinnamon together.
Fold the dry mix lightly into the liquids, then fold in the sour cream and cold coffee.
Into a lined and greased 9-inch round, deep tin pour the cake mixture and bake for 1 hour, 25 minutes.
Set to cool on a wire rack.
Pastry Base:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and bind until the mixture stiffens.
Roll the pastry onto a floured board worktable until pastry is about the same size as the base of the tin.
Lay out on baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Assembly:
Whip cream until it holds its shape.
Put some cream into pastry piping bag with a star pipe attached, and reserve this for the decoration.
Slice the cake into 3 equal-sized layers.
Drain the cherries, reserve 8 for decoration and remove the stones from the remainder.
Put pastry on serving plate and spread the pastry with black cherry jam.
Soak the cakes with sprit used.
Put one layer of cake on top of coated pastry.
Spread a layer of cream with half the stoned cherries.
Put the second layer of cake and add another layer of cream and cherries.
Add the final layer of the cake.
mask the entire cake with the remaining cream and press on the grated chocolate. Decorate the top with piped rosettes of cream and the reserved whole black cherries.
Tips:
Using 3 identical cake pans instead of 1 large is OK.
Margarine, vegetable oil or regular butter will substitute for Irish butter.
In some countries the brandy is often replaced by rum, in Germany itself it is almost always replaced by Kirschwasser.
This recipe did not come with a temperature to bake at for either the pastry or cake. Cakes usually work at between
325°F and 400°F (160°C and 205°C). Pastries usually work at between 350°F and 425°F (175°C and 220°C).
Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org
About The Author: For more recipes you can use at home or publish on your own website, ezine, newsletter or blog visit Good Cook dessert recipes. Food and drink are two of the great pleasures in life. eat and drink @ mwnch provides recipes and discussion to help you to get the greatest pleasure from them. To us that means sourcing the finest seasonal, local and where appropriate organic produce and ingredients.
What is Good Teaching ?
What is Good Teaching ?
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Earn a Degree or Masters in Education Leadership online
English Grammar Checker www.gingersoftware.com
In any application: Word, Outlook.. Write Perfect Texts. Free Download!
All students must have had hundreds of teachers in their lifetimes. A very few of these teachers they would remember as being exceptionally good. What are the qualities that combine to create an excellent, memorable teacher? Why do some teachers inspire students to work three times harder than they normally would, while others inspire students to avoid their class? Why do students learn more from some teachers than others?
Here I have focused on the four essential qualities that distinguish exceptional teachers:
What you will get if you combine all of the responses is a fascinating collage of ideas. I have found that most of the responses fall into two specific categories:
1) a set of "core qualities" that students recognize in good teachers, and
2) a set of "specific skills" that are developed by good teachers.
"Core qualities" are the essential characteristics needed to be a good teacher. I would like to concentrate on these core qualities in this article as under.
1. Knowledge
Students have consistently and clearly targeted as the number one quality of a good teacher exactly what you would expect: knowledge of the subject. You must be an expert in your field-both theoretical and practical –preferably with an industry interface and experience if you are going to be a good teacher in a Management college or Business School. This is a prerequisite.
It is a common misconception at the College level that knowledge of a subject is all that's required to be a good teacher; that the students should be willing and able to extract the meat from what you say- regardless of how it is delivered (even if it is delivered in a incomprehending language or different style). This might be true at the post graduate level, but elsewhere it is definitely untrue. It is especially untrue at the undergraduate level. The teacher's job is to take advanced knowledge and make it accessible to the students. A good teacher allows students to understand the material, and to understand what it means (because it is one thing to understand how nuclear bombs work, but quite another to understand what nuclear bombs mean).
A good teacher can take a subject and help make it crystal clear to the students. A bad teacher can take that same material and make it impenetrable. Or a bad teacher can devote so little time and effort to preparation that the material presented is intrinsically confusing and disorganized. A good teacher is willing to expend the effort needed to find innovative and creative ways to make complicated ideas understandable to their students, and to fit new ideas into the context available to the student. A good teacher can explain complicated material in a way that students can understand and use.
There is a saying, "Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." This is the philosophy of a good teacher. Give your students an answer and they can solve one problem, but show students the techniques needed to find the answer for themselves and they can become self-sufficient in the field. Students need to be shown how to apply the new techniques you teach to problem solving.
Good teachers recognise this, and work hard to make their material relevant. They show students how the material will apply to their lives and their careers. Bad teachers make material "relevant" by threatening students with failure on a test. Good teachers go far beyond this: they make students want to learn the material by making it interesting.
This is one of the things that makes industry and business examples so important and vital to learning in a business school or college.Industry interface and practical real life examples make the ideas discussed in class exciting and important to the teacher, as well as to the students. If the teacher isn't interested in what's being taught, then why should the students be?
The creation of a good class requires an immense amount of work. You don't simply come up with clear explanations,industry cases and examples and experiments for the class off the top of your head. You don't create fair, consistent, high quality tests,questionaires and homework assignments (read "learning experiences") five minutes before you hand them out. You don't figure out ways to integrate new materials and research into a class in an understandable way on your way to your college or institute in the morning. You work at this sort of quality all the time. You spend time with your students so you can learn about holes in their understanding. You read and write and create to build an exciting and interesting class every day. The only thing that would drive you to do that is a concern and respect for the students in your classroom.
Conclusion
When you strive and work to become a good teacher and to create a good class, the four core qualities are essential:knowledge,the skills to convey that knowledge,the ability to make the material you are teaching interesting and relevant,and a deep-seated respect for the students.Without these four core qualities,good teaching will just not exist and take place.
Here I have focused on the four essential qualities that distinguish exceptional teachers:
- Knowledge,
- Communication skills,
- Interest, and
- Respect for students.
An Experiment
Here's an experiment I had done in one of my earlier assignments. The results may surprise you. Go into one of the classes you are teaching and have your students take out a sheet of paper. Ask them to list for you the qualities they feel are important in a good teacher. Ask them to identify the qualities they admire in the best teachers they have had. Then give the students enough time to think about it and write something down. Five minutes is good, but ten might be better. Let them answer the questions anonymously if they desire.What you will get if you combine all of the responses is a fascinating collage of ideas. I have found that most of the responses fall into two specific categories:
1) a set of "core qualities" that students recognize in good teachers, and
2) a set of "specific skills" that are developed by good teachers.
"Core qualities" are the essential characteristics needed to be a good teacher. I would like to concentrate on these core qualities in this article as under.
1. Knowledge
Students have consistently and clearly targeted as the number one quality of a good teacher exactly what you would expect: knowledge of the subject. You must be an expert in your field-both theoretical and practical –preferably with an industry interface and experience if you are going to be a good teacher in a Management college or Business School. This is a prerequisite.
2. Communication
The second core quality that good teachers possess is the ability to communicate their knowledge and expertise to their students. You may be the greatest expert ever in your field, but what would happen if you lectured in a style and language the students are not able to comprehend clearly? How much would your students learn?It is a common misconception at the College level that knowledge of a subject is all that's required to be a good teacher; that the students should be willing and able to extract the meat from what you say- regardless of how it is delivered (even if it is delivered in a incomprehending language or different style). This might be true at the post graduate level, but elsewhere it is definitely untrue. It is especially untrue at the undergraduate level. The teacher's job is to take advanced knowledge and make it accessible to the students. A good teacher allows students to understand the material, and to understand what it means (because it is one thing to understand how nuclear bombs work, but quite another to understand what nuclear bombs mean).
A good teacher can take a subject and help make it crystal clear to the students. A bad teacher can take that same material and make it impenetrable. Or a bad teacher can devote so little time and effort to preparation that the material presented is intrinsically confusing and disorganized. A good teacher is willing to expend the effort needed to find innovative and creative ways to make complicated ideas understandable to their students, and to fit new ideas into the context available to the student. A good teacher can explain complicated material in a way that students can understand and use.
There is a saying, "Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." This is the philosophy of a good teacher. Give your students an answer and they can solve one problem, but show students the techniques needed to find the answer for themselves and they can become self-sufficient in the field. Students need to be shown how to apply the new techniques you teach to problem solving.
3. Interest
A good teacher starts with a firm knowledge of the subject, and builds on that with a clarity and understanding designed to help students master the material. The best teachers then go one step further. Because good teachers are interested in the material being taught, they make the class interesting and relevant to the students. Knowledge is worthless unless it is delivered to the students in a form they can understand. But the effort expended making the material understandable is wasted if the students are disinterested when it is delivered, or if the students can see no point in learning the material.Good teachers recognise this, and work hard to make their material relevant. They show students how the material will apply to their lives and their careers. Bad teachers make material "relevant" by threatening students with failure on a test. Good teachers go far beyond this: they make students want to learn the material by making it interesting.
This is one of the things that makes industry and business examples so important and vital to learning in a business school or college.Industry interface and practical real life examples make the ideas discussed in class exciting and important to the teacher, as well as to the students. If the teacher isn't interested in what's being taught, then why should the students be?
4. Respect
Good teachers always possess these three core qualities: knowledge, the ability to convey to students an understanding of that knowledge, and the ability to make the material interesting and relevant to students. Complementing these three is a fourth: quality: good teachers have a deep-seated concern and respect for the students in the classroom. Why else would a teacher put in the time and effort needed to create a high quality class?The creation of a good class requires an immense amount of work. You don't simply come up with clear explanations,industry cases and examples and experiments for the class off the top of your head. You don't create fair, consistent, high quality tests,questionaires and homework assignments (read "learning experiences") five minutes before you hand them out. You don't figure out ways to integrate new materials and research into a class in an understandable way on your way to your college or institute in the morning. You work at this sort of quality all the time. You spend time with your students so you can learn about holes in their understanding. You read and write and create to build an exciting and interesting class every day. The only thing that would drive you to do that is a concern and respect for the students in your classroom.
Conclusion
When you strive and work to become a good teacher and to create a good class, the four core qualities are essential:knowledge,the skills to convey that knowledge,the ability to make the material you are teaching interesting and relevant,and a deep-seated respect for the students.Without these four core qualities,good teaching will just not exist and take place.
(ArticlesBase SC #2845299)
Education and Learning
Introduction
Communicative strategies are systematic techniques employed by a speaker to express his meaning when faced with some difficulty and the difficulty here refers to the speaker's inadequate command of the language used in the interaction (Faerch & Kasper, 1983:16). On the other hand, the term learning strategies has been defined as "the higher-order skills which control and regulate the more task-specific or more practical skills" (Nisbet & Shucksmith,1986:26). Based on the previously mentioned definitions, it could be said that learning and communicative strategies refer to language learning behaviors that contribute directly or indirectly to learning. I am not very concerned here with the definition of the two terms as much as I am concerned with the fact that most if not all non-native speakers and second-language learners use these strategies throughout their second/foreign language learning journey. They tend to use them to compensate for their lack of sufficient language knowledge and to get themselves out of troubles when interacting in the target second/foreign language. These are only some of the short term benefits of using learning and communicative strategies. In fact, the successful use of these strategies can promote longer term language development.
In the first part of this paper, I will provide examples on some of the commonly used strategies and at the same time, I will focus on the ways in which these strategies promote the language learning process and the development of the learner's speaking skill. I will also highlight the short and long tem benefits of using both learning and communicative strategies in learning and developing speaking skill. In the second part of the paper, I will show how the knowledge of learning and communicative strategies has influenced me to change my old style of teaching the speaking, and how it has encouraged me to adopt a set of new methods of teaching that make utmost use of these strategies. Finally, I will give examples on some of the speaking activities that are based, in some ways, on these strategies, and are designed to promote and develop the learner's speaking skill.
Part One:
Teaching writing skill has been given the priority over teaching speaking skill in almost all educational syllabus and plans and the case in my country, Oman, is no exception. Writing skill has been considered the most important especially in the area of second/foreign language teaching. On the other hand, speaking skill has neither been given sufficient focus in our teaching syllabi nor has it been represented fairly in our classrooms as opposed to the other skills. In my context, most people in general and educationalists in particular, seem to have taken this skill for granted; maybe because they think it is an easy one and that almost everyone can speak. Speaking is, however, a skill which deserves much more attention in both first and second language. I have chosen to write about this skill because I know very well how important it is as a means of communication especially, for second/foreign language learners. Throughout my teaching of English as a foreign language, I noticed that speaking was the area of weakness for the majority of my students. On the part of teachers, not so much time was devoted to teach this skill, and on the part of the curriculum designers, not so much effort was exerted to promote the development of this skill. Consequently, speaking was regarded by the students as an obstacle in the way of learning English rather than as an important skill. In the following sections, I will attempt to show how this problem can be addressed by the use of some strategies.
1/ Examples on some learning and communicative strategies used by ESL and EFL students
So many studies and research have been conducted in both areas learning strategies and communicative strategies, and many researchers and linguists have been involved. Consequently, different definitions and classifications of strategies have been stated. However here, I will focus on the classification of communicative strategies suggested by Faerch and Kasper (1983), and on the classification of learning strategies suggested by Wenden and Rubin (1987). I will also show how each set of strategies are used by ESL and EFL learners. I have chosen the previous classifications because they confirm with the knowledge of strategies I acquired throughout my teaching experience.
Faerch and Kasper suggest that communicative strategies are classified into two categories each of which is classified or comprised of other subcategories. The first category is avoidance behavior and this consists of formal reduction and functional reduction strategies. Formal reduction strategies could be phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical strategies. Learners tend to use formal reduction strategies either to avoid making errors and/or they want to increase their fluency (Faerch& Kasper 1983: 40). On the other hand, functional reduction strategies include reduction of speech act and reduction of propositional context and these two are used by learners to reduce their communicative goals in order to avoid problems in interactions (ibid: 43). Achievement strategies are also called compensatory strategies and they consist of code switching, inter/intralingual, cooperative and non-linguistic strategies. These strategies are used by learners to expand their communicative resources in interactions (ibid:45). The following figure has been designed based on what was mentioned above:
Wenden and Rubin classified learning strategies into cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies are used by learners when they deal with steps, operations, or problem-solving that require direct analysis, transformation, or synthesis of learning materials (Wenden & Rubin,1987:23) and these strategies include clarification/verification, guessing/inductive inferencing, deductive reasoning, practice, memorizing and monitoring. On the other hand, metacognitive strategies are used when the learner deals with knowledge about cognitive process and regulation of cognition. These strategies consist of choosing, prioritizing, self-management, advance preparation, advance organization, directed attention, selected attention and delayed production. The following figure has been designed based on the information mentioned above:
2/ The short term benefits of training learners on the use of learning and communicative Strategies
Research and theory in second language learning strongly suggest that good language learners use a variety of strategies to assist them in gaining command over new language skills. In her study of five Chicano students who were learning English, Wong-Fillmore as quoted in Wenden & Rubin, (1987:27), identified some learning strategies used by successful language learners. Wong-Fillmore found that by using a few well chosen strategies, learners could continue to participate in speaking activities (ibid: 21). Moreover, O'Malley (1983), reports on an experiment in which students received training on the use of learning strategies with three language tasks; vocabulary, listening skill and speaking. His major conclusion was that strategy training was effective for listening and speaking, but not for vocabulary.
One of the major short term benefits of the use of learning strategies is the fact that they help learners to compensate for their lack of adequate language knowledge. Bygate (1987), states that the use of these strategies can bridge the gab between knowledge of the rules and the students' ability to express their own meaning. In other words, these strategies help learners to practice using acceptable language with reasonable fluency and reasonable ability to convey meanings and express opinions. On that basis, it could be inferred that training learners on using these strategies would help them a lot in their language learning. Language learners will not be hesitant or afraid of being involved in an interaction where they do not have sufficient language knowledge for it. Bygate adds that being trained to use learning strategies helps the learner to succeed in autonomous interaction. According to this, using such strategies in learning represents a transitional process where control of learning is moved from teacher to learners, leaving the learner with responsibility for his own thinking and learning. In addition, Wenden& Rubin (1987), mention that learning strategies help learners to better utilize the experience they bring to their language class. As a result, learners grow appreciation of their power ability and become critically reflective of the conceptual context of their learning.
The efficiency of communicative strategies training in learning languages has been proved in so many occasions. For instance, Spilka (as cited in Faerch & Kasper 1983:10), points that some trained French learners tend to use specific phrases in order to avoid liaison in French; to avoid French partitive en, the learners may produce the specified form J'ai trios pommes, rather than J'en ai trios. So, the French learners are making use of the avoidance strategy which is one of the communicative strategies. In another occasion, Kasper (1983:43), gave some examples of how trained German learners of English reduce their IL performance with respect to politeness making. Moreover, Faerch (1983:43), gave other examples of speech act reduction, in which learners in conversation with native speakers often do not use initiating acts (reduction strategy). Based on all that has been mentioned, we could say that strategies be they learning or communicative ones, are important for language learning for they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence. I shall now move to discuss the long term benefits of the use of learning strategies.
3/ The long term benefits of training language learners on the use of learning and communicative strategies
As we have seen previously, there are so many short benefits for training learners on using learning and communicative strategies. Likewise, there are other long term benefits for strategy training as well. Faerch and Kasper (1986:189), report the findings of a study where an attempt was made to train learners to use interaction strategies (some of the communicative strategies). They were Danish learners of English and the training for strategy use lasted for three months. The findings were that:
a) Middle proficiency level learners made considerable progress in using interaction strategies.
b) Low and high proficiency learners made less progress.
g) The general attitude in the class towards errors and towards risk-taking had changed. More learners accepted the need to make an attempt even if they did not get the right answer.
Based on the findings of this study, we could say that training learners to use communicative strategies raises their confidence and encourages them to participate in different communicative interactions even when they don't have enough language for it (e.g. when they don't have the answer for a question). In another study, Knowles (1975), finds that training learners to use these strategies helps them to develop the attitude that language is a lifelong process and to acquire the skills of self-directed learning. Most importantly, he points out that communicative strategies help learners to be equipped with the skills necessary to continue learning on their own when they leave formal education experience.
Many other studies have been carried out by different researchers and the long term benefits of communicative and learning strategies training have been proved. For instance, O'Malley and Chamot (1990) looked at learning strategies used both by ESL and EFL students and they found that training students to use these strategies helped them become more aware of the whole process of learning a second language. Based on the findings of one of their studies, Wenden & Rubin (1987), state that training learners to use learning strategies helps learners to better utilize the experience they bring to their language class and help them as well, to become critically reflective of the conceptual context of their learning.
Part Two:
1/ The influence of learning strategies on my teaching style of speaking
I have previously mentioned that speaking is an undervalued skill in Oman. All focus and emphasis are placed on the other skills as if the speaking skill does not exist or as if acquiring it has been taken for granted. Out of my own experience as an English teacher, I have noticed that the Omani students' biggest difficulty when learning English falls in the area of speaking. As teachers, we have not been working so much on this skill due to the fact that there are no formal speaking tests in the whole low-intermediate, intermediate and high-intermediate levels of teaching English in most of the academic institutions in Oman in general and in the Language Centre at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in particular. We were basically preparing our students to be able to pass the final test which normally contained listening, reading and writing only. Personally, I used to rely on specific activities in my speaking classes and these activities were not always suitable for my students' levels of English. However, since it was "the speaking skill", I did not bother to search for more activities or even try to design a simple syllabus for teaching it.
Having read about learning and communicative strategies and having known about their crucial role in promoting and developing the learning process in general and the verbal interaction skills in particular, I have decided to adopt a new teaching approach that makes full use of these strategies. I have realized that the new teaching capacities should include identifying students' learning and communicative strategies, conducting training on these strategies, and helping learners become more independent. That is because when students take more responsibility in the speaking activities, more learning occurs, and both teachers and learners feel more successful and satisfied. Teachers including me, (especially when teaching speaking) should attempt to discover what strategies their students are already using by interviewing them or questioning them about the strategies employed for specific language learning tasks (Wenden & Rubing, 1987). And then, they could direct them to utilise learning and communicative strategies for a variety of speaking activities. Metacognitive strategies such as self-management and self-monitoring can be practised in communicative situations in which the learner wishes to gain the maximum amount of comprehensible speech from others (ibid). Moreover, teachers can provide students with practice in useful strategies for the negotiation of conversational encounter outside of class. They can also suggest alternative strategies for organising and storing information and they can encourage students to consider which strategies work best for them. O'Malley and Chamot (as quoted in Macdonough,1995:122) summarise what has been previously mentioned by stating that the Cognitive Academic Learning Language Approach consists of five phases:
1/ Preparation: develop student awareness of different strategies.
2/ Presentation: develop student knowledge about strategies.
3/ Practice: develop student skills in using strategies for academic learning.
4/ Evaluation: develop student ability to evaluate their own strategy use.
5/ Expansion: develop transfer of strategies to new tasks.
According to these phases, teachers should go through several steps while teaching speaking tasks in order to make sure that students would get benefits from them and would develop their speaking skill. We should base our explanation of the tasks as well as our instructions on the students' communicative and learning strategies, and we should try focus our activities on developing these strategies. Furthermore, we could provide students with various activities that would enable them to use their strategies in new speaking tasks and to evaluate their use of these strategies.
Macaro (2001:176) gave another way of training students on using and developing their strategies. The following figure shows the sequence of steps that are to be followed by teachers in order to best utilise their students' learning and communicative strategies while teaching English skills in general and speaking in particular.
Another important aspect every teacher should take into account is materials and syllabus design. In Oman, both syllabus and curriculum design are prescribed by the Ministry of Education (for schools), or the Ministry of Higher Education for some colleges and universities. Teachers have an almost passive role in that process. On the other hand, researchers and educational inspectors play the major role and impose their ideas and opinions which are not always in favor of the learning process, learning situations and students. Teachers are not allowed to innovate or create additional materials and they are severely penalized if they deviate from the prescribed curriculum. It is really a hard task for the teacher to change or at least modify this traditional curriculum but is not impossible. Teachers should attempt to change such curriculum gradually and they should have their role in the curriculum design task. They should be creative, eclectic and adaptive in terms of producing educational materials. Educational authorities on the other hand, should take into consideration that aspects of learning and communicative strategies are to be incorporated in each and every syllabus or curriculum. Finally, it really makes a great difference in teaching and learning if teachers bear in mind the fundamental knowledge of learning and communicative strategies while teaching.
2/New teaching approach and examples on some speaking activities
In Oman, most if not all the teaching approaches adopted by teachers seem to be teacher oriented. Teachers are doing all the work; they teach, explain, ask, provide answers and help students. The students' role is passive in one way or another; they are being spoon-fed throughout the academic year without being asked to contribute to their studying activities or even being taught how to do it. Being a teacher in that country, my teaching style was influenced to a great extent with the teaching methods used there. For instance, in my speaking class, I used to do all the talk, control activities, come up with ideas, and choose the suitable speaking tasks. I did not use to allow students to express their ideas and if I did, it would be to a very limited extent. Even when my students were giving a presentation or performing a dialogue, I used to interfere either by giving my own opinion or by correcting them every now and then. It is only now after knowing about learning and communicative strategies that I have realised the pressing need for some teaching strategies especially in the area of speaking. I have realised also that it is the turn of the students to do most of the talking in the speaking class, while the teacher's main function is to provide them with maximum amount of meaningful practice. In this section, I will attempt to give some examples on speaking activities and show how they are best taught taking into account the students' learning and communicative strategies.
a/ Dialogue and negotiation
Dialogue and negotiation present the language as directly in the contexts in which they are most commonly used, and permit the learners to practise it in the same way, thus establishing a firm link between language and situation (Byme, I976:2 I). My teaching of dialogue was a kind of memorisation task; I used to type the dialogues or negotiation task and give copies to the students. All that they had to do was to read them, memorise them and present them in front of the class. Taking the students' learning and communicative strategies into account, I should do some pre‑speaking activities and prepare the learners in terms of vocabulary items and tenses that are going to be used throughout the dialogue/negotiation. This will direct their attention to the task and will help them operate their planning strategies so that they are ready to some extent to tackle the task. During the task, I would interfere where possible to provide the learners with suggestions and to give some alternatives. I would not focus so much on correcting their mistakes since I am concerned in the first place with developing their communicative abilities. I would rather compliment and praise the good performance in order to create a stimulus and motivation for the rest of the learners to improve their work. I guess this way would work well with my students since they are very afraid of making mistakes and they are easily motivated by praise, compliments and marks.
b/ Imaginary situation
I did not really make use of this task although it is very important in developing the students' ability to be involved in problem‑solving tasks, to improvise, guess and brain storm. I was not really aware of it and of its role in promoting speaking skill. However now, after realising the importance of this task, I would try to prepare and design some imaginative tasks that are culturally appropriate and related to the learners' day to day life. For instance, I might ask them to imagine that there is a specific problem in their village (e.g. water is getting salty due to overuse) that needs to be solved and then, will ask them to come up with solutions and to try to talk about their own solutions in front of the class. Since the topic represents a very serious problem due to the scarcity of water sources in Oman, most of the students will be involved and will participate in the discussion. I might ask them to discuss it together in groups or I might ask individual students to talk about and justify their opinions. Of course, there are so many other exciting and relevant tasks (to the students' daily life activities) that could be made use of in order to hook the students' attention, sustain their interest in the subject and appeal to their needs and desires.
c/ Role‑play and Narration
I taught this task before and I noticed that students liked very much especially when it is incorporated in a narrative task. I used to give my students a story and ask them to play the roles of the different characters; it was really very simple and fun. Actually, it was another way to train them to memorise some language phrases. If I am to do this task now, I would ask the students to compose their own story (in an attempt to focus on past tense for example), and then to act it out in front of their colleagues. I strongly think that this task would work very well with most of the students even the weak ones because they would be working in groups and they will have the chance to choose the role that they really like and that suits their linguistic ability. While performing this task, the learners will be practising speaking, prioritising and choosing their role, and memorising some language chunks. In other words, they will be practising the language and developing their learning and communicative skills.
Conclusion
The research evidence that has been mentioned throughout this paper proves to some extent the short and long term benefits of using strategies in learning second/foreign language. It also suggests that some learners are using more strategies more effectively than others. For this reason, teachers and researchers should work closely together to discover the role of motivation in learner strategy use (Macaro, 2001). It has also been shown that strategy training is effective in promoting a great predisposition towards language learning and a framework which enables the learner to take more responsibility for their learning in the immediate, medium and long term. In this regard, policy‑makers should be closely involved in supporting teachers' effort by facilitating local and national programs of strategy training. They should not set up learning frameworks (curriculum, syllabus) which place obstacles in the way of teachers to adapt their teaching to the strategy-related needs of their learners. They should rather allow teachers some freedom so that they can be creative in terms of designing tasks and activities that would appeal to their students because teachers are the ones who are in direct contact with the students and therefore, they should be the ones who know exactly what their students need. On the hand, teachers should bear in mind that the strategies which plan and evaluate learning and the strategies assumed by the learners who go out and make contact with language outside the classroom are the ones that teachers should increasingly tum their attention to (ibid).
Bibliography
Bygate, Martin.(1987). Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Faerch, Clans & Kasper, Gabriele.(1983). Strategies in Interlanguage Communication. London: Longnnan,
Byrne, Donn.(1976). Teaching Oral English. London: Longman
Faerch, G. and Kasper, G.(1986).Strategic competence in foreign language teachin. Aarhus University: Aarhus University Press.
Knowles, M.(1975).Self Directed Learning: A Guide for Learners and Teachers. Chicago: Association Press.
Macaro, Ernesto.(2001). Learning strategies in foreign and second language classroom. Great Britain: CPD, Ebbw Vale
Macdonough, Steven H.(1995). Strategy and Skill in Learning a Foreign Language. London: Edward Arnold, a division of Hodder Headline PLC.
Nisbet, John & Shucksmith, Janet.(1986).Learning Strategies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Plc.
O'Malley, IM & Russ, R.P, et al.( 1983). A study of Learning Strategies for Acquiring Skills in Speaking and Understanding English Language. Rosslyn, Va: InterAmerica Research Associates.
O'Malley, J.M and Chamot, A.U.(1990).Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wenden, Anita & Rubin, Joan.(1987).Learner Strategies in Language Learning. Cambridge: Prentice Hall International.
Rivers, Wilga M. (1972). Speaking in Many Tongues, Essays in Foreign‑language Teaching. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.
Wong‑Fillmore, L.(1976).The Second Time Around. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.
Communicative strategies are systematic techniques employed by a speaker to express his meaning when faced with some difficulty and the difficulty here refers to the speaker's inadequate command of the language used in the interaction (Faerch & Kasper, 1983:16). On the other hand, the term learning strategies has been defined as "the higher-order skills which control and regulate the more task-specific or more practical skills" (Nisbet & Shucksmith,1986:26). Based on the previously mentioned definitions, it could be said that learning and communicative strategies refer to language learning behaviors that contribute directly or indirectly to learning. I am not very concerned here with the definition of the two terms as much as I am concerned with the fact that most if not all non-native speakers and second-language learners use these strategies throughout their second/foreign language learning journey. They tend to use them to compensate for their lack of sufficient language knowledge and to get themselves out of troubles when interacting in the target second/foreign language. These are only some of the short term benefits of using learning and communicative strategies. In fact, the successful use of these strategies can promote longer term language development.
In the first part of this paper, I will provide examples on some of the commonly used strategies and at the same time, I will focus on the ways in which these strategies promote the language learning process and the development of the learner's speaking skill. I will also highlight the short and long tem benefits of using both learning and communicative strategies in learning and developing speaking skill. In the second part of the paper, I will show how the knowledge of learning and communicative strategies has influenced me to change my old style of teaching the speaking, and how it has encouraged me to adopt a set of new methods of teaching that make utmost use of these strategies. Finally, I will give examples on some of the speaking activities that are based, in some ways, on these strategies, and are designed to promote and develop the learner's speaking skill.
Part One:
Teaching writing skill has been given the priority over teaching speaking skill in almost all educational syllabus and plans and the case in my country, Oman, is no exception. Writing skill has been considered the most important especially in the area of second/foreign language teaching. On the other hand, speaking skill has neither been given sufficient focus in our teaching syllabi nor has it been represented fairly in our classrooms as opposed to the other skills. In my context, most people in general and educationalists in particular, seem to have taken this skill for granted; maybe because they think it is an easy one and that almost everyone can speak. Speaking is, however, a skill which deserves much more attention in both first and second language. I have chosen to write about this skill because I know very well how important it is as a means of communication especially, for second/foreign language learners. Throughout my teaching of English as a foreign language, I noticed that speaking was the area of weakness for the majority of my students. On the part of teachers, not so much time was devoted to teach this skill, and on the part of the curriculum designers, not so much effort was exerted to promote the development of this skill. Consequently, speaking was regarded by the students as an obstacle in the way of learning English rather than as an important skill. In the following sections, I will attempt to show how this problem can be addressed by the use of some strategies.
1/ Examples on some learning and communicative strategies used by ESL and EFL students
So many studies and research have been conducted in both areas learning strategies and communicative strategies, and many researchers and linguists have been involved. Consequently, different definitions and classifications of strategies have been stated. However here, I will focus on the classification of communicative strategies suggested by Faerch and Kasper (1983), and on the classification of learning strategies suggested by Wenden and Rubin (1987). I will also show how each set of strategies are used by ESL and EFL learners. I have chosen the previous classifications because they confirm with the knowledge of strategies I acquired throughout my teaching experience.
Faerch and Kasper suggest that communicative strategies are classified into two categories each of which is classified or comprised of other subcategories. The first category is avoidance behavior and this consists of formal reduction and functional reduction strategies. Formal reduction strategies could be phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical strategies. Learners tend to use formal reduction strategies either to avoid making errors and/or they want to increase their fluency (Faerch& Kasper 1983: 40). On the other hand, functional reduction strategies include reduction of speech act and reduction of propositional context and these two are used by learners to reduce their communicative goals in order to avoid problems in interactions (ibid: 43). Achievement strategies are also called compensatory strategies and they consist of code switching, inter/intralingual, cooperative and non-linguistic strategies. These strategies are used by learners to expand their communicative resources in interactions (ibid:45). The following figure has been designed based on what was mentioned above:
Wenden and Rubin classified learning strategies into cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies are used by learners when they deal with steps, operations, or problem-solving that require direct analysis, transformation, or synthesis of learning materials (Wenden & Rubin,1987:23) and these strategies include clarification/verification, guessing/inductive inferencing, deductive reasoning, practice, memorizing and monitoring. On the other hand, metacognitive strategies are used when the learner deals with knowledge about cognitive process and regulation of cognition. These strategies consist of choosing, prioritizing, self-management, advance preparation, advance organization, directed attention, selected attention and delayed production. The following figure has been designed based on the information mentioned above:
2/ The short term benefits of training learners on the use of learning and communicative Strategies
Research and theory in second language learning strongly suggest that good language learners use a variety of strategies to assist them in gaining command over new language skills. In her study of five Chicano students who were learning English, Wong-Fillmore as quoted in Wenden & Rubin, (1987:27), identified some learning strategies used by successful language learners. Wong-Fillmore found that by using a few well chosen strategies, learners could continue to participate in speaking activities (ibid: 21). Moreover, O'Malley (1983), reports on an experiment in which students received training on the use of learning strategies with three language tasks; vocabulary, listening skill and speaking. His major conclusion was that strategy training was effective for listening and speaking, but not for vocabulary.
One of the major short term benefits of the use of learning strategies is the fact that they help learners to compensate for their lack of adequate language knowledge. Bygate (1987), states that the use of these strategies can bridge the gab between knowledge of the rules and the students' ability to express their own meaning. In other words, these strategies help learners to practice using acceptable language with reasonable fluency and reasonable ability to convey meanings and express opinions. On that basis, it could be inferred that training learners on using these strategies would help them a lot in their language learning. Language learners will not be hesitant or afraid of being involved in an interaction where they do not have sufficient language knowledge for it. Bygate adds that being trained to use learning strategies helps the learner to succeed in autonomous interaction. According to this, using such strategies in learning represents a transitional process where control of learning is moved from teacher to learners, leaving the learner with responsibility for his own thinking and learning. In addition, Wenden& Rubin (1987), mention that learning strategies help learners to better utilize the experience they bring to their language class. As a result, learners grow appreciation of their power ability and become critically reflective of the conceptual context of their learning.
The efficiency of communicative strategies training in learning languages has been proved in so many occasions. For instance, Spilka (as cited in Faerch & Kasper 1983:10), points that some trained French learners tend to use specific phrases in order to avoid liaison in French; to avoid French partitive en, the learners may produce the specified form J'ai trios pommes, rather than J'en ai trios. So, the French learners are making use of the avoidance strategy which is one of the communicative strategies. In another occasion, Kasper (1983:43), gave some examples of how trained German learners of English reduce their IL performance with respect to politeness making. Moreover, Faerch (1983:43), gave other examples of speech act reduction, in which learners in conversation with native speakers often do not use initiating acts (reduction strategy). Based on all that has been mentioned, we could say that strategies be they learning or communicative ones, are important for language learning for they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence. I shall now move to discuss the long term benefits of the use of learning strategies.
3/ The long term benefits of training language learners on the use of learning and communicative strategies
As we have seen previously, there are so many short benefits for training learners on using learning and communicative strategies. Likewise, there are other long term benefits for strategy training as well. Faerch and Kasper (1986:189), report the findings of a study where an attempt was made to train learners to use interaction strategies (some of the communicative strategies). They were Danish learners of English and the training for strategy use lasted for three months. The findings were that:
a) Middle proficiency level learners made considerable progress in using interaction strategies.
b) Low and high proficiency learners made less progress.
g) The general attitude in the class towards errors and towards risk-taking had changed. More learners accepted the need to make an attempt even if they did not get the right answer.
Based on the findings of this study, we could say that training learners to use communicative strategies raises their confidence and encourages them to participate in different communicative interactions even when they don't have enough language for it (e.g. when they don't have the answer for a question). In another study, Knowles (1975), finds that training learners to use these strategies helps them to develop the attitude that language is a lifelong process and to acquire the skills of self-directed learning. Most importantly, he points out that communicative strategies help learners to be equipped with the skills necessary to continue learning on their own when they leave formal education experience.
Many other studies have been carried out by different researchers and the long term benefits of communicative and learning strategies training have been proved. For instance, O'Malley and Chamot (1990) looked at learning strategies used both by ESL and EFL students and they found that training students to use these strategies helped them become more aware of the whole process of learning a second language. Based on the findings of one of their studies, Wenden & Rubin (1987), state that training learners to use learning strategies helps learners to better utilize the experience they bring to their language class and help them as well, to become critically reflective of the conceptual context of their learning.
Part Two:
1/ The influence of learning strategies on my teaching style of speaking
I have previously mentioned that speaking is an undervalued skill in Oman. All focus and emphasis are placed on the other skills as if the speaking skill does not exist or as if acquiring it has been taken for granted. Out of my own experience as an English teacher, I have noticed that the Omani students' biggest difficulty when learning English falls in the area of speaking. As teachers, we have not been working so much on this skill due to the fact that there are no formal speaking tests in the whole low-intermediate, intermediate and high-intermediate levels of teaching English in most of the academic institutions in Oman in general and in the Language Centre at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in particular. We were basically preparing our students to be able to pass the final test which normally contained listening, reading and writing only. Personally, I used to rely on specific activities in my speaking classes and these activities were not always suitable for my students' levels of English. However, since it was "the speaking skill", I did not bother to search for more activities or even try to design a simple syllabus for teaching it.
Having read about learning and communicative strategies and having known about their crucial role in promoting and developing the learning process in general and the verbal interaction skills in particular, I have decided to adopt a new teaching approach that makes full use of these strategies. I have realized that the new teaching capacities should include identifying students' learning and communicative strategies, conducting training on these strategies, and helping learners become more independent. That is because when students take more responsibility in the speaking activities, more learning occurs, and both teachers and learners feel more successful and satisfied. Teachers including me, (especially when teaching speaking) should attempt to discover what strategies their students are already using by interviewing them or questioning them about the strategies employed for specific language learning tasks (Wenden & Rubing, 1987). And then, they could direct them to utilise learning and communicative strategies for a variety of speaking activities. Metacognitive strategies such as self-management and self-monitoring can be practised in communicative situations in which the learner wishes to gain the maximum amount of comprehensible speech from others (ibid). Moreover, teachers can provide students with practice in useful strategies for the negotiation of conversational encounter outside of class. They can also suggest alternative strategies for organising and storing information and they can encourage students to consider which strategies work best for them. O'Malley and Chamot (as quoted in Macdonough,1995:122) summarise what has been previously mentioned by stating that the Cognitive Academic Learning Language Approach consists of five phases:
1/ Preparation: develop student awareness of different strategies.
2/ Presentation: develop student knowledge about strategies.
3/ Practice: develop student skills in using strategies for academic learning.
4/ Evaluation: develop student ability to evaluate their own strategy use.
5/ Expansion: develop transfer of strategies to new tasks.
According to these phases, teachers should go through several steps while teaching speaking tasks in order to make sure that students would get benefits from them and would develop their speaking skill. We should base our explanation of the tasks as well as our instructions on the students' communicative and learning strategies, and we should try focus our activities on developing these strategies. Furthermore, we could provide students with various activities that would enable them to use their strategies in new speaking tasks and to evaluate their use of these strategies.
Macaro (2001:176) gave another way of training students on using and developing their strategies. The following figure shows the sequence of steps that are to be followed by teachers in order to best utilise their students' learning and communicative strategies while teaching English skills in general and speaking in particular.
Another important aspect every teacher should take into account is materials and syllabus design. In Oman, both syllabus and curriculum design are prescribed by the Ministry of Education (for schools), or the Ministry of Higher Education for some colleges and universities. Teachers have an almost passive role in that process. On the other hand, researchers and educational inspectors play the major role and impose their ideas and opinions which are not always in favor of the learning process, learning situations and students. Teachers are not allowed to innovate or create additional materials and they are severely penalized if they deviate from the prescribed curriculum. It is really a hard task for the teacher to change or at least modify this traditional curriculum but is not impossible. Teachers should attempt to change such curriculum gradually and they should have their role in the curriculum design task. They should be creative, eclectic and adaptive in terms of producing educational materials. Educational authorities on the other hand, should take into consideration that aspects of learning and communicative strategies are to be incorporated in each and every syllabus or curriculum. Finally, it really makes a great difference in teaching and learning if teachers bear in mind the fundamental knowledge of learning and communicative strategies while teaching.
2/New teaching approach and examples on some speaking activities
In Oman, most if not all the teaching approaches adopted by teachers seem to be teacher oriented. Teachers are doing all the work; they teach, explain, ask, provide answers and help students. The students' role is passive in one way or another; they are being spoon-fed throughout the academic year without being asked to contribute to their studying activities or even being taught how to do it. Being a teacher in that country, my teaching style was influenced to a great extent with the teaching methods used there. For instance, in my speaking class, I used to do all the talk, control activities, come up with ideas, and choose the suitable speaking tasks. I did not use to allow students to express their ideas and if I did, it would be to a very limited extent. Even when my students were giving a presentation or performing a dialogue, I used to interfere either by giving my own opinion or by correcting them every now and then. It is only now after knowing about learning and communicative strategies that I have realised the pressing need for some teaching strategies especially in the area of speaking. I have realised also that it is the turn of the students to do most of the talking in the speaking class, while the teacher's main function is to provide them with maximum amount of meaningful practice. In this section, I will attempt to give some examples on speaking activities and show how they are best taught taking into account the students' learning and communicative strategies.
a/ Dialogue and negotiation
Dialogue and negotiation present the language as directly in the contexts in which they are most commonly used, and permit the learners to practise it in the same way, thus establishing a firm link between language and situation (Byme, I976:2 I). My teaching of dialogue was a kind of memorisation task; I used to type the dialogues or negotiation task and give copies to the students. All that they had to do was to read them, memorise them and present them in front of the class. Taking the students' learning and communicative strategies into account, I should do some pre‑speaking activities and prepare the learners in terms of vocabulary items and tenses that are going to be used throughout the dialogue/negotiation. This will direct their attention to the task and will help them operate their planning strategies so that they are ready to some extent to tackle the task. During the task, I would interfere where possible to provide the learners with suggestions and to give some alternatives. I would not focus so much on correcting their mistakes since I am concerned in the first place with developing their communicative abilities. I would rather compliment and praise the good performance in order to create a stimulus and motivation for the rest of the learners to improve their work. I guess this way would work well with my students since they are very afraid of making mistakes and they are easily motivated by praise, compliments and marks.
b/ Imaginary situation
I did not really make use of this task although it is very important in developing the students' ability to be involved in problem‑solving tasks, to improvise, guess and brain storm. I was not really aware of it and of its role in promoting speaking skill. However now, after realising the importance of this task, I would try to prepare and design some imaginative tasks that are culturally appropriate and related to the learners' day to day life. For instance, I might ask them to imagine that there is a specific problem in their village (e.g. water is getting salty due to overuse) that needs to be solved and then, will ask them to come up with solutions and to try to talk about their own solutions in front of the class. Since the topic represents a very serious problem due to the scarcity of water sources in Oman, most of the students will be involved and will participate in the discussion. I might ask them to discuss it together in groups or I might ask individual students to talk about and justify their opinions. Of course, there are so many other exciting and relevant tasks (to the students' daily life activities) that could be made use of in order to hook the students' attention, sustain their interest in the subject and appeal to their needs and desires.
c/ Role‑play and Narration
I taught this task before and I noticed that students liked very much especially when it is incorporated in a narrative task. I used to give my students a story and ask them to play the roles of the different characters; it was really very simple and fun. Actually, it was another way to train them to memorise some language phrases. If I am to do this task now, I would ask the students to compose their own story (in an attempt to focus on past tense for example), and then to act it out in front of their colleagues. I strongly think that this task would work very well with most of the students even the weak ones because they would be working in groups and they will have the chance to choose the role that they really like and that suits their linguistic ability. While performing this task, the learners will be practising speaking, prioritising and choosing their role, and memorising some language chunks. In other words, they will be practising the language and developing their learning and communicative skills.
Conclusion
The research evidence that has been mentioned throughout this paper proves to some extent the short and long term benefits of using strategies in learning second/foreign language. It also suggests that some learners are using more strategies more effectively than others. For this reason, teachers and researchers should work closely together to discover the role of motivation in learner strategy use (Macaro, 2001). It has also been shown that strategy training is effective in promoting a great predisposition towards language learning and a framework which enables the learner to take more responsibility for their learning in the immediate, medium and long term. In this regard, policy‑makers should be closely involved in supporting teachers' effort by facilitating local and national programs of strategy training. They should not set up learning frameworks (curriculum, syllabus) which place obstacles in the way of teachers to adapt their teaching to the strategy-related needs of their learners. They should rather allow teachers some freedom so that they can be creative in terms of designing tasks and activities that would appeal to their students because teachers are the ones who are in direct contact with the students and therefore, they should be the ones who know exactly what their students need. On the hand, teachers should bear in mind that the strategies which plan and evaluate learning and the strategies assumed by the learners who go out and make contact with language outside the classroom are the ones that teachers should increasingly tum their attention to (ibid).
Bibliography
Bygate, Martin.(1987). Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Faerch, Clans & Kasper, Gabriele.(1983). Strategies in Interlanguage Communication. London: Longnnan,
Byrne, Donn.(1976). Teaching Oral English. London: Longman
Faerch, G. and Kasper, G.(1986).Strategic competence in foreign language teachin. Aarhus University: Aarhus University Press.
Knowles, M.(1975).Self Directed Learning: A Guide for Learners and Teachers. Chicago: Association Press.
Macaro, Ernesto.(2001). Learning strategies in foreign and second language classroom. Great Britain: CPD, Ebbw Vale
Macdonough, Steven H.(1995). Strategy and Skill in Learning a Foreign Language. London: Edward Arnold, a division of Hodder Headline PLC.
Nisbet, John & Shucksmith, Janet.(1986).Learning Strategies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Plc.
O'Malley, IM & Russ, R.P, et al.( 1983). A study of Learning Strategies for Acquiring Skills in Speaking and Understanding English Language. Rosslyn, Va: InterAmerica Research Associates.
O'Malley, J.M and Chamot, A.U.(1990).Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wenden, Anita & Rubin, Joan.(1987).Learner Strategies in Language Learning. Cambridge: Prentice Hall International.
Rivers, Wilga M. (1972). Speaking in Many Tongues, Essays in Foreign‑language Teaching. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.
Wong‑Fillmore, L.(1976).The Second Time Around. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.
Minggu, 30 Januari 2011
Bisnis Internet
Bisnis internet itu memang menyenangkan. Anda tidak harus kemana-mana dan cukup menjalankannya dari rumah yang nyaman, dan anda sudah mendapatkan uang dari internet. Namun, kadang sering juga saya dengar cerita pebisnis internet yang sudah bekerja amat keras, bekerja dari pagi sampai tengah malam mungkin, namun hasil yang didapatkan tidak juga kunjung meningkat.
Mengapa ini bisa terjadi dan bagaimana cara mengatasinya?
Anda Sekedar Sibuk atau Sudah Produktif?”. Di sana saya jelaskan perbedaan orang yang sekedar sibuk atau sudah produktif.
Begini… langsung saja. Mari coba lihat bagaimana cara kerja anda menjalankan bisnis internet.
Misalkan saya beri ilustrasi seperti ini…
Mulai dengan menghidupkan komputer, lalu membaca email, mengklik link yang menarik dan kemudian membuat anda terlena sampai berjam-jam. atau membuka situs favorit sampai anda tak merasa sudah menghabiskan banyak waktu di sana. kembali membuka email anda dan begitu seterusnya sampai tak terasa berjam-jam waktu sudah hilang…
Bisa menangkap apa yang tak beres dari kegiatan di atas?
Tidak adanya arah yang jelas. Sudah lama berada di depan komputer namun yang dilakukan hanya muter-muter. Tidak ada ACTION yang dilakukan yang membuat bisnis selangkah lebih maju dari sebelumnya. Memang terlihat sibuk menjalankan itu semua namun semuanya hanya berujung pada kesibukan semata. Anda melakukan sedikit hal di sini, sedikit hal di sana tanpa rencana yang jelas. Tidak jelas kemana tujuan anda dan tahapan-tahapan apa yang harus anda selesaikan agar anda mencapai apa yang anda inginkan.
Lalu bagaimana cara mengatasinya?
Singkat saja:
Mengapa ini bisa terjadi dan bagaimana cara mengatasinya?
Anda Sekedar Sibuk atau Sudah Produktif?”. Di sana saya jelaskan perbedaan orang yang sekedar sibuk atau sudah produktif.
Begini… langsung saja. Mari coba lihat bagaimana cara kerja anda menjalankan bisnis internet.
Misalkan saya beri ilustrasi seperti ini…
Tiap hari saya bangun pagi, lalu saya buka email ada puluhan atau bahkan ratusan email yang masuk. Saya membaca semua email tersebut satu per satu tanpa alasan yang jelas mengapa saya harus membukanya. Misalkan, saya membuka sebuah email yang di dalamnya terdapat tawaran video gratis, lalu saya klik link yang ada di dalamnya dan lalu mulai mendownload atau melihatnya secara online sampai berjam-jam sampai tak terasa tengah hari sudah lewat.Apakah seperti ilustrasi di atas cara anda menjalankan bisnis internet?
Mulai dengan menghidupkan komputer, lalu membaca email, mengklik link yang menarik dan kemudian membuat anda terlena sampai berjam-jam. atau membuka situs favorit sampai anda tak merasa sudah menghabiskan banyak waktu di sana. kembali membuka email anda dan begitu seterusnya sampai tak terasa berjam-jam waktu sudah hilang…
Bisa menangkap apa yang tak beres dari kegiatan di atas?
Tidak adanya arah yang jelas. Sudah lama berada di depan komputer namun yang dilakukan hanya muter-muter. Tidak ada ACTION yang dilakukan yang membuat bisnis selangkah lebih maju dari sebelumnya. Memang terlihat sibuk menjalankan itu semua namun semuanya hanya berujung pada kesibukan semata. Anda melakukan sedikit hal di sini, sedikit hal di sana tanpa rencana yang jelas. Tidak jelas kemana tujuan anda dan tahapan-tahapan apa yang harus anda selesaikan agar anda mencapai apa yang anda inginkan.
Lalu bagaimana cara mengatasinya?
Singkat saja:
- Miliki tujuan
- Buat perencanaan
- Susun sesuai skala prioritas
- dan ACTION-kan!
- Ukur dan catat setiap satu aktivitas itu selesai. Misalkan, anda telah menyelesaikan tugas untuk mengecek statistik situs web untuk melihat perkembangan bisnis, beri centang hal tersebut yang berarti sudah selesai.
Sumber Penghasilan Tambahan
Ngomong-ngomong, anda pasti sudah menyiapkan rencana untuk membuat hidup anda lebih sejahtera. Mungkin anda mulai bertekad mulai bisnis online atau hendak memulai bisnis sampingan. Apapun itu, pada intinya anda ingin mendapatkan tambahan penghasilan yang kemudian bisa membuat anda beserta keluarga lebih bahagia.
Menambah sumber penghasilan adalah cara pasti untuk membuat anda sejahtera. Banyak orang kaya juga terus berusaha untuk menambah sumber penghasilannnya.
Di bisnis online ada banyak sekali sumber penghasilan yang mendatangkan uang. Nyaris segala bisnis offline juga bisa kita terapkan di bisnis online. Dan sama sekali tidak ada batasan berapapun bisnis online yang ingin anda ikuti/jalankan di online. Caranya yang mudah, jangkauan yang luas mencapai seluruh dunia, membuat bisnis online kian marak dijalankan oleh siapa saja baik tua maupun muda. Siapa saja berkesempatan untuk meraih hasil dari bisnis online.
Yang perlu anda lakukan sekarang adalah menemukan produk yang dibutuhkan banyak orang. Ambil komitmen untuk menjadi yang terdepan dalam bisnis tersebut. Caranya dengan mau belajar dan ACTION!
Sisihkan waktu anda selanjutnya untuk mulai memelihara bisnis anda tersebut. Sediakan waktu untuk belajar minimal seminggu sekali (karena itu di MrActionClub.com program pembelajaran saya kemas tiap minggu). Buat perencanaan bisnis. Kembangkan jaringan, cari jaringan baru yang bisa membantu mengembangkan bisnis anda.
Tetapkan target keuangan yang jelas di tahun pertama bisnis anda tersebut, dan bersiaplah sekuat tenaga mencapainya dari pencapaian target per bulan, yang dipecah menjadi target per minggu, dan dipecah lagi dalam target harian.
Mari ACTION! Bersiap-siaplah hidup lebih sejahtera di tahun 2011 ini dengan menyiapkan sumber penghasilan baru yang anda suka.
Boleh saya tahu, apa yang anda rencanakan di tahun 2011 ini?
Menambah sumber penghasilan adalah cara pasti untuk membuat anda sejahtera. Banyak orang kaya juga terus berusaha untuk menambah sumber penghasilannnya.
Di bisnis online ada banyak sekali sumber penghasilan yang mendatangkan uang. Nyaris segala bisnis offline juga bisa kita terapkan di bisnis online. Dan sama sekali tidak ada batasan berapapun bisnis online yang ingin anda ikuti/jalankan di online. Caranya yang mudah, jangkauan yang luas mencapai seluruh dunia, membuat bisnis online kian marak dijalankan oleh siapa saja baik tua maupun muda. Siapa saja berkesempatan untuk meraih hasil dari bisnis online.
Yang perlu anda lakukan sekarang adalah menemukan produk yang dibutuhkan banyak orang. Ambil komitmen untuk menjadi yang terdepan dalam bisnis tersebut. Caranya dengan mau belajar dan ACTION!
Sisihkan waktu anda selanjutnya untuk mulai memelihara bisnis anda tersebut. Sediakan waktu untuk belajar minimal seminggu sekali (karena itu di MrActionClub.com program pembelajaran saya kemas tiap minggu). Buat perencanaan bisnis. Kembangkan jaringan, cari jaringan baru yang bisa membantu mengembangkan bisnis anda.
Tetapkan target keuangan yang jelas di tahun pertama bisnis anda tersebut, dan bersiaplah sekuat tenaga mencapainya dari pencapaian target per bulan, yang dipecah menjadi target per minggu, dan dipecah lagi dalam target harian.
Mari ACTION! Bersiap-siaplah hidup lebih sejahtera di tahun 2011 ini dengan menyiapkan sumber penghasilan baru yang anda suka.
Boleh saya tahu, apa yang anda rencanakan di tahun 2011 ini?
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